


An Un-Humerus Situation [Divergence Side Story]

by Serja



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Broken Bones, Fantasy, Gen, Literature, Swearing, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 16:00:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serja/pseuds/Serja
Summary: Walking home from one of his mid-year jobs whilst lost in thought, Papyrus ends up on the bad side of Snowdin Town. But before he can leave it, he hears a distressed cry that he simply cannot in good conscious ignore, leading to a fight that's three to one for the young, scrawny teenager. But for this Royal Guard hopeful, he cannot turn his back on a monster in need just because the odds aren't in his favor, leading to an act of selfless bravery and painful sacrifice.





	An Un-Humerus Situation [Divergence Side Story]

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first and foremost, a warning that this story gets downright _gruesome_ near the end, so if that isn't your thing, run far away before you read this.
> 
> Now that that's out of the way, this story came about as part of the back story for Papyrus in the alternate timeline setting I’m developing. It's a repressed memory that comes up during certain events, and since the character was sharing it in detail in another scene, I ended up writing out the full memory in detail as well. It's not pretty, and poor Papyrus does go through some serious hell here, but it served as a great character building exercise that he came out stronger for. There is at least one sweet moment in here for our precious cinnamon roll, but you'll have to endure some hell with this teenage Papyrus to get to it, so fair warning.
> 
> The Allura and Aster fonts make an appearance in this work briefly, so if you'd like the full experience, definitely snag them from Google's Font Foundry here: [Allura](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Allura) and Fonts Geek here: [New Aster Roman](http://fontsgeek.com/fonts/New-Aster-Roman/download)
> 
> Hope it's as moving for others as it was for me to hear him tell the tale. 

The air was crisp and cold with a promise of snow as Papyrus stepped out into the midday light, muted by thick cloud cover. It was one of his favorite types of weather as it usually meant there would be a layer of fresh, clean, white powder on the ground the next morning, pristine and perfect until the denizens of the town began their daily routines. He tended to get up earlier than usual the next day just to see the simulated sunrise coming in through the trees and reflecting brilliantly across the glittering frost. It was almost enough to make him forget their endlessly trapped existence.

Almost.

Booted feet crunched softly across the ground, most of the snow here either cleared or well trodden given it was the heart of Snowdin. It made traversing the wintry city that much easier, he mused as he zipped up his dark red leather jacket, hands tucking into the softly lined pockets before he began that casual stroll home. Sans would still be working for the rest of the afternoon at least, but that just gave Papyrus time to perform various domestic duties, including ensuring dinner was on the table at a sane hour.

At least, that’s what the skeleton told himself. In truth, he knew it wouldn’t take all afternoon to complete those tasks, but given the fact it was mid-year break, there wasn’t a whole lot else he had to occupy his time aside from the odd jobs he managed to snag. And even then, most adults wouldn’t let him work a full day like he wanted to because it was ‘just a kid’. Oh, how that assertion galled him. Sure, he was only fifteen, but he was _far_ from being a kid anymore. Not with both his parents gone and his elder brother working so hard to support them. He was just glad the house was paid for. There would have been no way Sans could have done enough to cover everything to keep it otherwise.

Papyrus supposed he should thank Asgore for paying their deceased father so well in life and for the stipend in light of his apparent death, but given the way the King had treated that project in the time since… Well, suffice it to say the monarch wasn’t completely winning him over.

A sigh drifted out from between his teeth to mist in the air, warmed by his magic as his gaze drifted toward the overcast sky. He supposed being in school wasn’t all that much better, since that just meant hours wasted in classes he already knew the information for. _Maybe this year I can just test out of all my classes._ It was the most hopeful thought he could come up with for his situation, particularly since he had now tracked down the residence of the Royal Guard’s Captain. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with the idea of hurting humans, but there were lots of things that the Royal Guard did that didn’t involve that part at all, like keeping the various cities of the Underground safe and rendering other aid as necessary.

Oh, and protecting the King of all Monsters, he supposed.

_Eh, you take the good with the bad sometimes,_ he mused in dry tones to himself. Still, it would be a steady job with good pay and let him stop being such a deadweight financially. Sure, for now they had enough to get by and take care of the necessities and even some occasional extras, but given how infrequently he got to see Sans and how tired he seemed when they _did_ see each other, he knew it wasn’t a sustainable situation by any means and that it was the responsible thing for him to do something about it.

Papyrus just hoped that the menacing Captain didn’t dismiss his application outright.

A soft sound of alarm pulled the skeleton from his thoughts sharply, pausing mid-step as he instinctively dropped into a slight crouch, trying to locate it. He realized as he looked around that his thoughtless ambling had actually taken him through what was technically the shorter route to home, but also the closest thing to a bad neighborhood that Snowdin had. _Crap._ Briefly he toyed with the idea of finding one of the guards that should be on duty — there were usually more in this part of town than the rest — but hearing a second panicked cry threw that thought right out. He was here, the guard was not. It was _his_ responsibility to do something.

And if he was lucky, maybe it would even help him get into the Guard.

Another small squeak finally helped him pinpoint the source of the sound, sprinting to a nearby dark alley as a pair of bones sprang into his hands, one white and one blue. He skidded to a stop so that he was facing down it, quickly making out what he could about the situation in front of him.

The first thing he noticed was a big, rather burly brown bear monster, missing half an ear with a visible scar across the right eye. That one was holding onto a rather smaller, big-eared monster by a long scarf, arm cocked back and ready to punch the clearly terrified creature. Behind the big one were two less bulky monsters: one was a bipedal weasel brandishing a knife — missing a finger up to the first digit he noticed — and the other was a ruddy furred terrier type canine that looked like he was hopped up on something from the way he twitched and jittered.

Seeing them getting ready to beat up on that poor, defenseless monster sent fire racing through Papyrus’ bones, prompting him to raise his voice in what he hoped was an authoritative tone.

“ _ **HEY TURD BRAINS!**_ ”

They all turned to look at him.

_Okay, probably not my finest decision ever._

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?!”

_Nevermind, that one’s probably worse._

“Heh, like _you_ , shrimp?” The bear let go of the tiny mouse-like creature he had been ready to punch, which just kind of slid down into a trembling heap next to the wall it had been pinned against moments before. The two cronies were quick to follow, their slow stalk clearly meant to be menacing as they strode down the narrow gap between buildings.

_Run, damn you!_ Papyrus tried not to glare at the timid monster he was trying to save with his bravado — or stupidity, he wasn’t sure which — so instead he turned his attention quickly to the approaching trio, brandishing the bones he had in hand in a bid to keep their attention on him. “ Actually, shrimp are invertebrates, but I wouldn’t expect monsters with cranial fecal transplants to know the difference.”

“The hell you say?” the bear growled.

“Let me put it in terms even your infinitesimal cogitating organ can understand.” Papyrus’ eye sockets narrowed as his tone became even more condescending, gesturing with the bones to add unnecessary emphasis to each syllable. “You. Are. Stupid.”

The rather hopped up dog started to cackle riotously at this, to which the bear gave the glaze-eyed canine a hearty smack, despite the wiry-furred monster being behind his left shoulder. “Shaddup, ya mangy mutt.”

“Heeheeheeheeheehee… but boss,” he drawled, barely able to contain his cackles.

“But nuffin, Dram. He meant you too, ya junkie whelp.” The bear cra ****cked his knuckles dramatically, lips drawing up in a sneer. “C’mon, it’s time to show this bonehead that he shouldn’ mess with the infamous Bruwl and his gang.”

“Don’t all gang up on me at once,” Papyrus drawled, a lot calmer than he felt. _What the hell am I doing?_ A glance at the still trembling mouse monster reminded him, though this was a fight the skeleton really wasn’t keen to pick, truth be told. He had no idea of their capabilities, and while he had put on a good bit of height to nearly match the bear in that regard, there was a whole lot of muscle that he definitely didn’t want to experience behind those punches.

This was one time where Papyrus would have really loved Sans helping with some of those really funny knock-knock jokes. But he had no desire to see his brother hurt over something as petty as these overgrown bullies, and if he was being realistic, it was more than time for him to fight his own battles.

_Well, this wasn’t technically mine, but… details!_

His inner ruminating was cut short as Bruwl threw a mean right hook the skeleton’s way, instinct more than conscious choice making Papyrus dodge the blow with a nimble side juke. He gave the inner elbow of that extending arm a hard whack with the white bone in his hand, but unfortunately the hit only seemed to make the bear madder. _Crap._ The bony monster used his blue magic and natural agility to quickly scale the narrow walls of the alley and land behind the trio, shouting out at the timid monster finally as he dropped into a battle ready stance.

“Kid, run!”

Those big eyes just stared at him blankly, clearly paralyzed by the fear that gripped him.

_Damnit all to hell._ Papyrus lunged forward under a knife swipe, bringing the bone up between the canine’s legs to impact him in the groin, but much to his dismay whatever the monster was on seemed to prevent him from registering that pain, if it even caused any. The blue bone was swung up and across to pin the knife wielding wrist against the brick walls at either side of the alley as his torso twisted to avoid the nail studded board that the weasel was apparently using as a club.

_Great. More sharp things._

He brought his booted foot up while in that side bend to stomp the weasel’s hand against the other wall, the lack of space here proving a boon as the bear was presently unable to get by and Papyrus was able to force that nailed club to drop. With due haste he grabbed hold of it with his blue magic to chuck it up onto the roof, removing at least one weapon from the equation as he was forced to fall back toward his witless rescue.

“Guess you’re not gonna weasel your way outta this conundrum, huh?” Papyrus taunted, trying to buy more time to figure out what to do, and hopefully get one of them to make a grievous error. _Hopefully not me._

“Hardy har har, you fuckwit,” the weasel snarled, cradling his stomped hand with a definite glower. Those beady eyes were darting around too, likely looking for a replacement weapon.

“Guess it would be hard to laugh when you’ve got your nose so far up Bruwl’s butt all you can smell is his crap,” Papyrus mused, prompting the weasel to surge forward with arms outstretched in an angry grab attempt. He summoned a small bone just at ankle height as he lept back, watching the weasel trip over it to land nose-first against the ground, letting out a yowl of pain. His nose was definitely bent out of joint when he lifted it back up, blood trickling out of the dark tip.

“You’re dead, fucker!” The weasel’s voice sounded wet as he tried to push up off the hard ground to come after the skeleton.

Papyrus stole a half glance at the kid even as he leapt up into the air to perform another series of acrobatics above the group, trying to keep just out of reach while still giving them solid whacks around the ears. It certainly couldn’t make them any dumber than they already were, though he regretted that the one monster’s nose had been broken in that trip. It was a more severe injury than he’d intended. _Probably some kind of karma though._

The hyper mutt was randomly stabbing at Papyrus as he danced through the air on those blue magic platforms, but it definitely wasn’t a tactic that was going to work forever. Another stab and the skeleton tried to whack that blade from Dram’s hand, but noting that the weasel was going for the mouse again, he dove down onto the slippery monster’s back, shouting at the scarf wearing target once more. “Get out of here!”

He was starting to wonder if such a big eared creature was deaf as he sprinted toward the mouse, picking it up in that run to shove the creature toward the back exit of the alley, wanting them to just get away somehow. Then he could dump these losers and finish going home. “Go home, kid!” It was hard to tell if the monster was a child or not, but they were certainly small.

Papyrus ducked just in time to avoid having his skull smashed with the same force of that hairy fist that had partially dusted the bricks on the wall where his head had been a half second earlier. _Okay, too close for comfort there._ That knife came at him again and the skeleton was forced to twist to avoid its hungry edge, groaning inwardly as he saw that monster still just standing there, trembling with paralyzing fear. _Okay, plan B I guess._

Twisting away from the trio scrabbling for him in that narrow alley, Papyrus scooped the mouse monster up again, this time making a mad dash for the far end. He tried to keep his movements unpredictable in that sprint, but the alley was narrow and allowed for very little variation in his side to side movement, and the monster in his arms precluded some of the more wild twists and jukes he might have made. Still, he was almost out of that corridor when something hard and heavy hit the back of his skull, sending the skeleton forward in a tumble as he saw stars. He couldn’t say if it was instinct or some lingering presence of mind that had him grabbing his passenger’s soul to fling them down the rest of the way, out into the trees beyond, but he felt a mild wash of relief when they finally took the hint and ran away.

Papyrus tried to get his limbs coordinated under him as everything felt sluggish after that stunning hit, managing to get onto his hands and knees before that meaty bear hand picked him up by the collar and shook him like a rag doll.

“You are gonna _pay_ for breakin’ Smeck’s nose, little birdshit.” 

Bruwl’s breath smelled awful, but it helped Papyrus gather his wits up a bit more as he tried to twist out of that grasp. It felt like the bear only had him by the coat collar, so much as he regretted it, he quickly unzipped the jacket and slipped out, hitting the ground in an attempt at a run.

_Stars, the world just needs to stop spinning._ He managed to get a fair ways out of the alley and into the start of the trees when the hyped up mutt pounced his back, sending the skeleton falling gracelessly to the ground again, snow getting into everything, though that was the least of his concerns right now.

“Heeheeheeheehee! Who’s laughin’ now, dumb sh ****it?!” Dram howled gleefully as he sat above Papyrus’ rib cage, making it difficult to breathe.

Gritting his teeth, Papyrus turned Dram’s soul blue and flung him off of him, hearing a yelp that sounded more like surprise than pain as the canine landed somewhere back in the direction that they’d come. He forced his hands and knees under him again, crawling in the snow just to get a little more distance, trying to convince his body to be bipedal as everything felt off kilter, like it was sideways and upside down all at once. He wasn’t even sure he could trust his own blue magic to send him in the correct direction now.

“Thought you’d run away, didja?” Bruwl snarled, grabbing at the waistband of Papyrus’ jeans to pick up the skeleton in a rather undignified manner.

Papyrus attempted to wrench free, even going so far as to making himself excessively heavy with his blue magic to try and break that hold. It definitely hurt when it succeeded and he hit the ground hard, though he shoved the bear back with another soul grab. Unfortunately the weasel, Smeck, was on him again, scrabbling with those grabby paws to find a purchase. Dram was nearly on him in the same instant, prompting Papyrus to try and grab both of their souls in a desperate bid for freedom, but it was simply too much right now. He could grab one or the other, but not both. Objects were one thing, since they didn’t fight back, but right now he couldn’t seem to get both their resonances right at the same time with his head spinning in a way it had no right to do.

It didn’t help that he never seemed to have more than one soul to practice on at the same time.

“What’re we gonna do with him, boss?” asked Dram in a high pitched tone, holding Papyrus tightly around one arm while Smeck had the other. 

The scent of blood tickled at the skeleton’s senses as it dripped into the snow, Papyrus hanging there after a few more weak struggles proved fruitless to free him. The world just didn’t seem to want to stop spinning and it was all he could do not to be sick from it as his magic churned in his core.

“Heh, I think it’s only fair to return the favor. Break one of his pretty bones since he broke Smeck’s nose.” That meaty bear hand tapped at Papyrus’ nasal bone, prompting the skeleton to flinch away from that undesirable invasion. “But since he doesn’t have much of a nose to speak of, we’ll just have to do something else.” The bear glanced around before his lips curled in a decidedly sinister smile. “Take him further back in the trees,” came the suddenly malicious tones that made the skeleton’s marrow go cold. “Wouldn’t want anyone to hear him.”

Papyrus struggled with renewed energy driven by a genuine fear for the dark promise held in that sudden tonal change, but all his wiry strength wasn’t enough to break free as they dragged him back further into the trees and snow, and he didn’t dare simply detach from his limbs to get away. Those would be a lot harder to replace than a jacket.

His breath was ragged from a growing panic he felt, continuing to struggle to no avail as he watched Bruwl come toward them with a rather good sized rock, rolling and tossing it like it was nothing as those beady eyes glittered hungrily.

“Yeah, you ain’t getting away from this bit of justice, ya little shitstain,” the bear guffawed. “Put ‘im on the ground. Smeck, sit on his chest and Dram, hold his right arm out straight.” The malicious grin on Bruwl’s face grew as those cronies complied. “Since he robbed us of our pickings and ruined yer face, I reckon we oughta make sure he remembers what happens to those who fu ****ck with us for a good long time. Prolly forever.” A snicker. “S’not like you needed your arm for anything, right?”

Eye lights narrowed to the dimmest, most colorless pinpricks as the reality of what was about to happen set in, prompting Papyrus to try for those souls again even as his head swam. They felt as slippery as a moldsmal to his attempts, though when Bruwl raised up that rock in preparation for what came next, the skeleton managed one last desperate hold on it, freezing it in midair above the bear’s head.

“Ah-ah-ah,” the bear chided. “If you don’t accept your punishment, then Dram here will just be forced to slip that knife of his between your pretty ribs.” Fangs bared in a dark smile as Bruwl’s voice returned with mocking condescension. “And by that I mean he’ll kill you.”

Papyrus’ breath came and went in ragged spurts, adrenaline crashing through his bones but unable to wash away the growing exhaustion he felt, every bone in his body trembling as he searched for some final, desperate solution to this problem, only to come up horrifically short. Everything hurt. His head wouldn’t stop spinning. He was running out of energy fast and given what was apparently coming, he was going to need what remained afterward.

Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes as he let that heavy rock go, trying to prepare himself for the pain that he knew was coming. He’d dealt with broken bones before, even had to set them himself, but that didn’t make the pain any easier to tolerate. Jaw clenched, trying to keep himself from crying as Bruwl prepared for that blow. _I’m sorry Sans; I wasn’t good enough._

_….At least the mouse got away._

It was the last comforting, clear thought Papyrus would get for a while as the bear brought that rock down _hard_ on the large right humerus bone. He felt the bone try to resist the impact, but even as strong as it was, Bruwl was an unrelenting force of nature, and that first blow sent splintering cracks all along its length, starting from the center.

The pain didn’t set in right away. That told Papyrus it was going to be bad. _Really_ bad.

When that second blow hit, he couldn’t hold in the scream of agony.

“Yes, scream for me, you stupid little fu ****ck,” Bruwl snickered. “Nobody’s gonna hear ya, and even if they did, nobody cares enough about cha to save ya either.”

_Sans cares._

The thought fragmented away as the rock came down again, moving toward the lower end of that long bone to crush it further, the pinkish marrow oozing out between the cracks as blood ran to stain the snow.

Papyrus screamed again.

He heard their sniggering as he felt the rock lift away, breath coming harsh and fast as the weasel atop him trapped him against the ground, still brandishing that knife with hysterical titters. A part of his mind felt detached from his body as he watched that rock — covered in his own blood — rise up again in preparation for a fourth descent. It was too surreal. Couldn’t be happening.

A renewed explosion of pain through his being as the stone was smashed against the upper section of his humerus told him otherwise.

The sound of his own voice unleashed in unfathomable anguish rang oddly in his ears, his mind refusing to process it as part of himself, the odd squelching of his blood and marrow as the rock lifted again disassociated equally from him. There was so much pain and yet at the same time he couldn’t feel his right arm. Tears flowed down his cheeks, his eye lights snuffed.

_Sans cares._

Somehow Papyrus managed to cling to that thought as a lifeline as the rock came down again. He’d lost count. Was it five? Six? He didn’t know and soon didn’t care as Bruwl simply brought the stone down repeatedly on the skeleton’s humerus until there was no longer the satisfying crack of bone to declare that another break had occurred. For a time the entrapped monster did scream, each new impact sending sharp barbs through his entire being, chipping away at his life, but eventually even those sounds died away as his voice gave out, Even his tears ran out before that heavy brute was done, but by then Papyrus’ mind had long since checked out of its body, simply staring up at the overcast sky without really seeing anything.

“Heh, guess that’s all the fun noises I’ll get outta ya then.” Bruwl set the rock aside with an oddly jolly guffaw. “Maybe if yer lucky, someone’ll find ya before ya die.” A snicker. “Not likely though. Nobody comes out this way, ‘nless they’re stupid or have business with me.” More laughter. “Looks like you were the former.”

Something soft but heavy landed on his legs. _My jacket,_ Papyrus realized vaguely, on the verge of passing out as his humerus continued oozing from all those crushed fragments that once were his arm bone.

“C’mon boys, let’s get outta here before someone else shows up.”

“You got it boss!”

“Sure thing, man.”

Both monsters got up off of Papyrus finally, leaving him freer to breathe, but the pain from his arm being moved stole any breath he might have had away as it jolted through him like electricity. It hurt, but he had nothing left with which to acknowledge or express that hurt within him anymore, so he was simply silent.

Their footsteps withdrew, and his eyelids felt so heavy. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. He felt so tired and… _cold_. It was a strange feeling. The darkness at the edges of his vision was so inviting, beckoning him into its embrace for some well earned rest. His mind was awash with pain that never subsided, only undulated like a wave, a constant but slightly varied sensation that the skeleton half wondered if Sans would diagram such a thing out.

_Probably wouldn’t have found this situation very humerus._

A strangled sound that might have been a chuckle once upon a time rasped from Papyrus, eyelids falling closed as a few more tears managed to leak out over his cheekbones. The darkness felt warm and tempting, a welcome escape from the cold and pain throbbing through him. He just had to surrender to it and this ordeal could be over; he wouldn’t have to hurt anymore.

Papyrus saw the face of his mother, sweet, but also sad as she looked at him, her delicate hand cradling his cheek to brush away those tears with her thumb. _“ Not just yet, sweet baby. Sans needs you a while longer.”_

The vision faded to one of his father, that familiar hand on his forehead as the calculating eyes were warm, but also subtly firm. _“ Come, Papyrus; you and Sans must finish what we began still. He should not walk the road alone.”_

Finally, there was his brother, kneeling and offering his hand out to Papyrus. _“_ _C’mon bro, we both know you’re better than this. You’re the Great Papyrus, after all, and I_ always _believe in you, just like you always believe in me._ _”_

Holding that familiar gaze within the darkness encroaching on his mind, Papyrus reached out with his left hand to take Sans’, surprised by the strength of their shared grip as he felt his mind pulled out of that darkness and back through the deep ocean of pain to finally emerge above the waves. The skeleton gasped as his eyes opened, suddenly and keenly _aware_ of his body again.

It sucked.

But he was alive.

Making himself _breathe_ through the anguish that was omnipresent, Papyrus grit his teeth as he took stock of _where_ it hurt, even if it forced him to face that pain head on for a moment. He supposed it was a small mercy when it appeared to be isolated to just that shattered humerus, but carefully detached radius and ulna at the elbow so he could lift his lower arm and hand for a quick inspection via his blue magic, not trusting himself to physically move right now. It was a relief that the multitude of bones appeared intact, so he set it back down into the snow next to him, approximately where it should be when attached.

Taking in a bracing breath, the skeleton reached out to enfold his right humerus with his blue magic as gently as possible, willing it to detach at the rounded head from his scapula. A strangled cry escaped him as the movement sent a fresh wash of sharp jabs through his very being, feeling like his soul might fracture from the agony alone. The phalanges of his left hand dug into the snow, clenching at the harder layers beneath as he made himself _breathe_ once more, regaining his focus in spite of that fresh reminder for the hell he was in.

Gingerly he withdrew the bone from the short sleeve of his t-shirt, something at the back of his mind glad he’d worn a white one today since he could probably get the blood out. A blue aura shimmered around the splintered mess of ivory and garnet as he brought it up to hover within his view, trying to hold it steady despite the pain that incessantly throbbed like a backdrop against his mind. Orange tinted blood ran across the once pristine surface, spongy marrow oozing from the bigger cracks, particularly near the center where the damage was most certainly the worst. With the way the inner lattice was exposed and the breaks ran across the ossein structure it seemed to have more in common with a spider web than a bone right now.

Papyrus felt his magic churn with a desire to be sick as he turned the bone over slowly and carefully, feeling zaps of pain digging at him when he did so too fast. Somehow he managed to keep that bile down as he forced himself to examine the mangled structure as clinically as he could. It wasn’t magic he could afford to waste right now.

Looking it over, the skeleton mulled the idea of healing it and repairing the bone, but everywhere he looked there were sprays of cracks and structural weaknesses that he was sure he wouldn’t be able to heal completely in his current state. It would result in unacceptable weak points that would more than likely make his efforts to join the Royal Guard rather futile, and that was something that Papyrus simply could not abide. He refused to continue being a burden on his brother; he wanted to take care of Sans too, damnit!

He sighed. If he couldn’t heal it properly, that meant the only other option was remaking it from scratch.

The skeleton reflected that it was a very good thing he knew bones so very well.

Ruminating on the current state of his right humerus, Papyrus decided he would have to use his left as the starter blueprint. He could make adjustments to it after, but the original bone was hardly in a fit state to be used. With another moment of concentration he detached the left humerus from its respective bones, drawing it out of the short sleeve to hover next to its shattered mate. It definitely felt weird having both arms detached from his body, but weird was something he could deal with and gave him an alternate sensation to focus on aside from the still pulsing pain that throbbed to the beat of his soul.

With care he aligned the two bones to be as close as possible to each other so he could simply turn them in unison with one another, freeing up a little more of his concentration for the more important task. Setting the two bones at a good angle for his viewing, Papyrus turned his attention to actually crafting that living bone with his magic. _Head of humerus… greater tubercle… lesser tubercle…_ The skeleton found reciting the names for the various bits of bone as he crafted them with painstaking care assisted in him holding that intense concentration, despite the pain still eroding at the back of his mind. Especially when he had to rotate the original and keep his mind from fragmenting with each new stab of anguish such a maneuver prompted.

The overcast sky gave no indication to the passing of time as it diffused the simulated daystar’s light, leaving Papyrus with no idea how long the process of creating that replacement bone took, his inner time sense skewed by his own intense concentration and efforts to ignore the ocean of pain lapping away at his mental faculties. Given the soft rattling of his bones from growing exhaustion, he was certain it was more than long enough.

Comparing the replacement bone with its left counterpart looked like a favorable mirror, but Papyrus knew the true test would come when attaching it to the bones on his right side. He started with the radius and ulna, picking the lower arm bones up to test out their connection with the new humerus. There were a few minor adjustments he needed to make to ensure the bones fit into their respective fossas, but it was easily done, the joint moving fluidly once more when he tested it. The process was repeated with the connection to the scapula, detaching the lower bones again so they weren’t dangling and getting in the way while he tweaked it, having to go by feel rather than sight for the latter, though by the time he was done it felt as good as the original had, if not a little better.

All told, the replacement was perfectly unremarkable from the original, aside from the original still being a throbbing mess of marrow and ossein. This fact sent a brief wash of relief through Papyrus, knowing it would be one less thing for Sans to see. After what that trio had done to him, the skeleton shuddered to think of how quickly they might turn his brother to dust with just one wrong move. As much faith as he had in his sibling, this was one fight that he just couldn’t stomach risking the elder in, despite lacking that organ. Better that this encounter remain unspoken like so many others.

Attaching the lower arm bones to the new limb, Papyrus tested it out fully, pleased that everything moved as it should, though he noted that the humerus felt half numb still, prompting a glance to the original still held in the grip of his blue magic, the constant pain having become a mere background hum as it simply went on ceaselessly. The skeleton grimaced as he realized that he was going to have to finish what those attackers had started and dust his own limb to sever that magical link so the new bone could complete that bond in its place.

_C’mon Pap, sooner you finish the job, the sooner you can go home._

Papyrus took the time to reattach his left arm too, feeling grateful to have two functioning arms again as his fingers ran briefly through the snow beneath them, using the sensations it generated to help ground him and prepare for the pain he knew would result in what came next.

The feel of something cold on his face made him look up, realizing the clouds had finally begun dispensing their load of fresh snow out. It was the best thing he had felt all day, the coolness of it evoking fond feelings and memories.

_You’re stalling._

The voice at the back of his mind goaded Papyrus into action, taking a deep breath to brace himself for the pain he anticipated. He wished that someone else could finish the job for him so he didn’t have to know when the pain would come, but it wasn’t the first time, and he suspected it wouldn’t be the last either.

_Okay…_ He sighed out that held breath before taking in another, feeling himself tense instinctively as he finally forced himself to crush the oozing remains of his original humerus in the force of his own blue magic, turning it to nothing more than dusty powder.

He screamed as the pain sung through him like thousands of icy, electrified needles stabbing into his shuddering soul, all concentration waning as it smothered him in its embrace. His blue magic faded to let go of those pulverized particles, allowing them to drift down over his body and mingle with the snow.

The world reeled in a wash of dizzying white that overwhelmed all his senses.

Then it all faded to black.


End file.
